Franklin County, FL - An assistant school superintendent for Leon County Schools is busted with cocaine and prescription pills in his car.

The Franklin County sheriff says it was a Leon County Schools company car.

Paul Byrd is charged with trafficking after cocaine and pills were found inside of it.

Byrd was the assistant superintendent for maintenance and transportation for Leon County Schools.

Franklin County Sheriff Mike Mock says Byrd was driving a school district white Chevrolet truck Friday night, when he was pulled over during a routine traffic stop east of Lanark Village on Highway 98.

Sheriff Mock says the K-9 team searched the truck and found about 31 grams of cocaine, eight different types of pills (that weren't prescibed to Byrd,) a set of digital scales and more than $1,637 in cash.

The sheriff says, "We have two K-9 officers and that's what we do. We use our K-9 officers out there on the streets and a lot of times we'll use them on our traffic stops. We do our job on the traffic end then we use that K-9 for the sniff of that vehicle."

Byrd's attorney, Don Pumphrey, says, "Mr. Byrd's been a longtime employee of the school board and the district for 29 plus years. He served under five superintendents. Just a phenomenal guy, the kind of guy helps everybody. He did a selfless act and took it upon himself to resign, tender his resignation so that none of what's going would on would reflect on the school district."

Byrd is charged with trafficking cocaine, eight counts of possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The attorney says Byrd was leaving from the Chili Cook-off in St. George Island. He says Byrd did not have any drugs in his system, and says they will continue to review the case.

News Release: Franklin County Sheriff's Office

On Friday February 28, 2014 Deputy Sheriff's from Franklin County Sheriff's Office conducted a traffic stop on a white Chevrolet truck for a violation of Florida Statues 316 uniform traffic control.

Officer's identified the driver as Paul W. Byrd Jr. While officers warned Byrd for the violation K-9 Officer Martina had his K-9 partner "Piper" perform a free air sniff around the vehicle Byrd was driving. K-9 Piper gave a positive alert for the odor of narcotics.

Officer's subsequently searched the vehicle and found the following items: approximately 31.6 grams of cocaine, eight (8) different types of controlled prescription medications (Dilaudid 2 types, Xanax 2 types, Klonopin, Oxycodone, Librium and Darvocet) a set of digital scales and $1637.00 in US currency.

All items were seized and placed into evidence at Franklin County Sheriff's Office.

Paul W. Byrd Jr. was transported to the Franklin County Jail where he was charged with Trafficking in Controlled Substance (cocaine), 8 Counts of Possession of a Controlled Substance (prescription medications) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia.

Tallahassee Fla. -- A Leon County School Official resigns after being arrested on drug charges.

A Leon County School spokesman says Assistant Superintendent Paul Byrd was arrested in Franklin County this weekend. The exact charges aren't known at this time.

Paul Byrd's Attorney, Don Pumphrey Jr. told us, "What I do know is this: Mr. Byrd did not have any controlled substances, nothing illicit in his system at anytime. This weekend or at this point in time and we are going through the appropriate procedures to confirm all of that."

Byrd was the Assistant Superintendent for maintenance and transportation and had been with the School District for 29 years.

His attorney told us he tendered his resignation in hopes this would not paint the school district in a bad light.

By Julie Montanaro March 2, 2014

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A Leon County Schools spokesman confirms that assistant superintendent Paul Byrd has resigned in the wake of his arrest on drug charges.

Byrd was arrested in Franklin County over the weekend, LCS spokesman Chris Petley said, has since met with the superintendent and resigned.

Byrd was the assistant superintendent for maintenance and transportation and had been with the school district for 29 years.

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.